Twinkling lights, Christmas trees, model trains and teddy bear teas are just a few of the delights guests can enjoy at Charleston Place this holiday season. With so much to do in Charleston this holiday season, it is the perfect time to visit the Holy City. Here is a list of all the Holiday Packages and Offers at Charleston Place Hotel.

This holiday season, visitors to Charleston who book a two-night stay at Charleston Place Hotel will receive a $100 gift card upon departure. The gift card can be passed on to a friend, or keep it for yourself to be used toward a future stay, a treatment at The Spa at Charleston Place or a fabulous meal at The Palmetto Cafe, Thoroughbred Club or the award-winning Charleston Grill.

Gift of Giving Package rates start at $250 per night, and are available from November 25, 2012 – January 6, 2013. Two night minimum stay required. Gift cards can be redeemed 24 hours after check-out and are valid for one year.Book Online >>

Just a generation ago, extended families lived near one-another. Today, hundreds and even thousands of miles separate loved ones, making intimate holiday gatherings a challenge.

Charleston Place’s new “Festive Feasts” program is a response to requests from families seeking an easy, elegant way to celebrate. Festive Feasts combines special family group rates with a private dinner in a hospitality suite or a hotel guest suite featuring a dining room.

Typically these family dinners range in size from 8 to 16 people. Explains Nathan Foster, Food and Beverage Manager at Charleston Place: “Having us look after their holiday dinner frees everyone to relax and focus on one another. And no family member stresses over house guests or meal prep.“

Menus vary. The prix-fixe holiday menu created by Chef Michelle Weaver of the award-winning Charleston Grill is very popular. “But we’ve also done family style platters and even prepared personal family recipes that are a ‘must-have’ Thanksgiving or Christmas tradition,” says Foster.

Room rates start from $199. Dinner costs are priced per person and are based on menu selection. Read More >>

Rich in Jewish history, Charleston, South Carolina is a great destination that combines education with a special Hanukkah package from Charleston Place Hotel.

The Hanukkah package includes 2-nights accommodation at Charleston Place, and a private guided tour of significant Jewish cultural sites, including the Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim synagogue, its museum and the city’s holocaust memorial. The rate also includes a special gelt turn-down and in-room menorah, upon request. Rates start at $330 per room, per night.

Established in 1670, historic records first refer to Jewish people coming to the English settlement in 1696. Many Jewish settlers followed because the laws of the Carolinas guaranteed the widest measure of religious liberty of all of the 13 colonies. The early Jewish settlers organized the first synagogue, the Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (Holy Congregational House of God) in 1749. K.K. Beth Elohim is the oldest Reform Jewish congregation in the world, and the second oldest synagogue in continuous use in the United States and a protected national historic landmark.

Today the site, located adjacent to the Charleston Place Hotel, is also home to an archive museum, which includes historical documents, books, photographs, paintings and ceremonial objects. Its Coming Street cemetery dates back to 1764 and is the oldest remaining Jewish burial ground in the South.

Charleston is also home to the Charleston Holocaust Memorial, the Francis Salvador Memorial (the original home of the Hebrew Orphan Society), the Jerry and Anita Zucker Holocaust collection at the Charleston Public Library and many other sites of historical significance to the Jewish faith. Read More >>

This holiday season, enjoy the best of Charleston with the Celebrate With Savings offer. When you stay three nights, receive 40% off your third night. It’s the perfect way to extend the festivities and enjoy everything the Holy City has to offer. Celebrate With Savings is available for holiday season travel November 13, 2012 – January 9, 2013. Three night minimum stay required. Rates from $208 per night. Book Online >>

Many Charlestonians are preparing their tailgating displays for the Charleston Cup, a steeplechase race taking place on Sunday, November 11th. While it is exciting to participate in the pageantry of the race, spectators are also taking part in a long Charleston tradition. Charleston has a long history of horse racing, starting all the way back in 1734 and Charleston has ties to Belmont Park, one of the world’s most famous racetracks. Charleston Place’s own Thoroughbred Club was even designed in an equestrian style to reflect the rich history of horse racing in Charleston.

The first horse race in Charleston was held in 1734 and quickly became a favorite pastime of the Charleston elite. That same year a group of South Carolina planters organized the South Carolina Jockey Club – 16 years before the formation of the English Jockey Club. Races were initially held at the York Course in present day North Charleston. Surviving documents and records suggest that there were as many as 10 tracks in the tri-county area with the most prominent being the Washington Race Course, which was established in 1792. It is what we know today as Hampton Park with Mary Murray Drive being the site of the original eight-furlong track.

During the Civil War, the track was used as a prison for Union soldiers. Many valuable racehorses were lost during the war, when they were used as cavalry horses. Racing did not resume until 1875 with races being held until February 1878. After the Civil War and depressed economy of Reconstruction, interest in horse racing and horse breeding declined. The Washington Race Course was leased as farm and pasture land in 1884 and eventually sold to the City of Charleston by the Charleston Library Society who acquired it after the South Carolina Jockey Club disbanded in 1899. In 1901 the grounds were used for the South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition. It was there that a wealthy New York banker, August Belmont Jr., noticed the four stone pillars at the entrance to the Washington Race Course. The City of Charleston offered them as a gift and they were shipped to New York to be used at Belmont Park, the location of the Belmont Stakes. Even today, those stone pillars mark the entrance of Belmont Park.

In 1984, the charter of the South Carolina Jockey Club was revived; and, in 1986 developers at Stono Ferry Plantation in Hollywood began the Charleston Cup steeplechase races. The 19th running of the Charleston Cup is scheduled to take place on Sunday, November 11, 2012. Sanctioned by The National Steeplechase Association, the Cup has become one of the premier sporting events in the Carolina Lowcountry. The nation’s top riders, trainers, and owners will be competing for purses totaling $50,000. Spectators will experience an exciting day of steeplechase and flat races.

So we invite you to spend the afternoon tailgating and enjoying the race. Afterwards, stop by Thoroughbred Club to order a “Run For The Roses” drink and some “Suffolk Downs Crab Cakes” and impress your friends with your new knowledge of Charleston’s horse racing history.

Take a stroll down historic Broad Street for the First Fridays Art Walk, hosted by the Broad Street Merchants Association. This recurring event, held the first Friday of each month, is an opportunity to enjoy the fine art and refreshments in the boutiques and galleries on Gallery Row. Gallery Row, located on Broad Street, is Charleston’s destination for fine art. This month, Gallery Row is pleased to present “Spotlight On Charleston” with opening receptions during the First Friday Art Walk. Here is a list of participating galleries.

Bernie Horton Gallery
43 Broad Street
Living at the edge of a marsh, Bernie Horton paints fine art originals of the beauty of his surroundings. He is most recognized for his light-filled Lowcountry landscapes.

Coco Vivo Fine Art
25 Broad Street
This gallery offers works from some of the top plein-air artists as well as antiques and the best in interior design. Twenty new releases by renowned watercolorist Tony van Hasselt will be on display.

Edward Dare Gallery
31 Broad Street
Many of the artists represented here have a personal connection to Charleston and tend to include pieces that celebrate the colorful tapestry of the southern coastal culture. The gallery will be featuring small paintings in the annual postcards from Charleston show as well as new pottery, jewelry and glass.

Ella Walton Richardson Fine Art58 Broad Street
This gallery specializes in classical, realist and impressionist paintings and sculptures by renowned American, Dutch, Russian and Korean artists. It is the exclusive North American representative of Bronze Sculpture by Dutch artist Marianne Houtkamp. Craig Nelson will be present for the opening reception of his “Italian Journey” exhibition.

Galerie on Broad
29 Broad Street
Known for gallery owner Dee Beard Dean’s impressive plein-air work, this gallery houses national and international talent including Calvin Liang, one of the 50 Living Master Artists in North America. November’s First Friday will be your last chance to see “Southern Lights”, Camille Przewodek’s colorist interpretation of Charleston.

Hamlet Fine Art Gallery
7 Broad Street
Here you will find a variety of paintings, sculptures and pottery. Award-winning oil painter, Pat Forsberg’s “Impressionistic Vessels” exhibition will be on display. The “Water Lily Series” by Alice Dobbin, one of Charleston’s best-selling artists for over 10 years, is exhibited here as well.

Lambert Gray Gallery
54 Broad Street
Owners Hilarie Lambert, an accomplished oil painter, and Michael Gray, known for his impressionist technique, have recently added contemporary painter Fotini Christophilis to their space. The grand opening of his exhibit “Emerge” will take place during First Friday.

Martin Gallery
18 Broad Street
This gallery features contemporary art, representing more than thirty nationally and internationally renowned artists. Here you will find oils, acrylics, bronzes, marbles, terra-cottas and richly hued glass work. Artist Simon Kenevan will be in attendance during First Friday with three new seascapes.

Mary Martin Gallery
103 Broad Street
Here you will find over fifty Master artists, hand selected for their national recognition, unique talent, and the consistent and ever increasing value of their pieces. The offerings range from realistic to abstract, from linear expressionism to intuitive. In addition, they have sculptures of all types, water fountains, glass, wood and jewelry. The opening reception for John Sherman and Densaburou Oku’s exhibitions will take place during First Friday.

Spencer Art Galleries I & II
55 & 57 Broad Street
Contemporary fine art paintings, prints, photographs and sculptures of carefully selected master, mid-career and emerging artists are exhibited. The featured international, national, regional, and local artists work in a broad range of styles and media. “Serendipity V” by Catherine Spencer and “I’ve seen the light” by Barbara Sussberg will be featured in Gallery I. “Southern Reflections” by Martha Teti and “All about Color” by Shelia Thompson will be exhibited in Gallery II.

Utopia
27 Broad Street
This is a place where art and fashion are one. Utopia is a premier boutique for women including artistic fashions and European designers with a unique flair. Many local jewelry designs, great handbags, select shoes and the colorful artwork of Beki, the artist and owner of Utopia are also showcased.

A Beyond Gallery Row Must-see!Robert Lange Studios
2 Queen Street
This gallery shows artists that stand out for their imagination and distinctive personal approach. Amy Lind, Mia Bergeron, Ali Cavanaugh will come together for “Nuance”, a three-woman exhibition opening on November 2.

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Consistently ranked among the best hotels by the readers of Condé Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure. Charleston Place evokes the feeling of a grand, 17th century residence, from lush personal suites to the Italian marble lobby with signature Georgian Open Arm staircase and 12-foot crystal chandelier.